The Power of Expressive Drawing

Discover a range of drawing techniques to unleash your expressive potential using conventional and non-conventional drawing materials. Luke Thurgate will guide students through a series of playful exercises designed to create a rich and individual portfolio of works.

Throughout the course Luke will discuss historical and contemporary artists who use drawing in unexpected, and highly expressive ways. Drawing will be discussed as a language that has the capacity to communicate novel, emotive and poetic ideas. Students will be encouraged to develop their own personal approach to mark-making, composition and subject matter as they build their drawing vocabulary.

* NAS Short Courses are open to students of ages 16 years and over. The NAS Art Club is open to students from ages 15 years and over. 

* Drawing and painting short courses may be held in upstairs studios. If access to stairs is not suitable, please contact us at short.courses@nas.edu.au 

* What to bring? Please refer to the list of required materials in the Art Materials field below. 

Luke Thurgate is an artist living and working on Gadigal Land (Sydney). He teaches drawing and painting at the National Art School, where he graduated in 2021 with a Master of Fine Art. Luke’s exhibition history includes recent projects at Grafton Regional Gallery, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Backwoods Gallery, Burra Regional Art Gallery, National Art School and Adelaide Central Gallery. He has been a finalist multiple times in the Dobell Drawing Prize, the Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award, and in 2020 was a finalist in the Tom Bass Figurative Sculpture Prize.

Students must supply their own art materials, please refer to the list below.

• 6 sticks of willow charcoal (medium/large)
• 1 stick of compressed charcoal
• 1 stick of white pastel
• 1 compressed charcoal pencil (2B or 4B)
• White plastic eraser and/or kneadable putty eraser
• A flat hog-hair brush, 5cm or wider
• 250-gram tub of white gesso paint
• Black ink
• Palette and water container
• Masking tape, scissors, sharpener and/or blade
• Small journal/sketchbook (approx. A4)
• 4 sheets of A1 cartridge paper
• 2 meters of thick brown craft paper
• Additional materials and surfaces will be discussed during the course
  

Enclosed footwear is essential in all studios on campus.